CONTENTS

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A MODERN ARMED FORCES A NEW OFFERING FOR PERSONNEL, VETERANS AND SERVICE FAMILIES

SNP Defence Team

June 2021

CONTENTS

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Foreword by Stewart McDonald MP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Section I: Recruitment and Retention. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Section II: Working Conditions and Pensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Section III: Housing and Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Section IV: Education and Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Section V: Veterans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

FOREWORD BY STEWART MCDONALD MP

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From assisting with the rollout of life-saving

vaccines across Scotland to undertaking freedom

of navigation exercises across the world,

members of the Armed Forces have quietly

continued their vital work during this past

unprecedent year, with many upending their

personal lives – as they have done for years – to

keep us safe. As we mark Armed Forces Day on

the 26th June, it offers more than a chance to give

thanks for the work they do: this day provides an

opportunity to reflect upon the place of the Armed

Forces in society and how we recognise the

sacrifice they make.

It is clear that successive UK Governments have let the Armed Forces down. Offered

some of the lowest salaries for serving personnel in Europe and expected to tolerate

squalid, rodent-infested housing, members of the Armed Forces are expected to make

enormous personal sacrifice in exchange for some of the worst pay and conditions

offered by any European or NATO ally. When they leave the military, responsibility for

their welfare, education and health more often falls on the shoulders of third-sector

organisations than on the state they served.

This is unacceptable and must urgently change. This paper sets out a range of polices

– such as an end to the culture of outsourcing or the establishment of an Armed Forces

Representative Body – which we, the SNP Westminster Defence Team, believe would

go some way towards making the Armed Forces an employer of choice for adults

seeking a rewarding and fulfilling career in service of their country. Unfortunately,

given its past record, we have little faith in the UK Government to deliver them.

The institutional failures of the UK Government when it comes to personnel and

veteran welfare should serve as a cautionary tale to the first government of an

independent Scotland, which we hope will offer these proposals more careful

consideration.

INTRODUCTION

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A career in the Armed Forces should not only be something that people can take pride

in pursuing, but one which the Government can offer with the confidence that it is doing

everything it can to recognise the sacrifices personnel make in service of their country.

We believe that, as employees of the Armed Forces, service personnel should

be employed on terms that allow them to develop as professionals, remain grounded

in their local communities, and ensures that their family life and personal

wellbeing are assured. There are five parts to this approach:

1. Recruitment and retention: From the outset, we must ensure that a good

employment offering is made to engage people interested in a career in the

Armed Forces and retain them for as long as possible. This offering should

meet or exceed the standards set by comparable public sector jobs.

2. Working conditions and pensions: Guarantees on existing pension rights

are required and future pensions should match or exceed current UK forces

levels. A representative body for members of the Armed Forces should also be

created to ensure that personnel are able to advocate for their needs in the

workplace.

3. Housing and Facilities: Current housing satisfaction among existing

personnel is poor and we should aim to provide comfortable and desirable

accommodation that allows personnel - particularly those with families - to have

the flexibility to maintain a permanent home in a civilian environment near

where they work.

4. Education and Health: We are committed to ensuring that all serving

personnel and veterans are able to access the best possible care and support.

This entails robust support for physical and mental welfare, and support for

career and personal development before, during, and after service. Personnel

should have the opportunity to access high-quality professional development

opportunities catered to all levels and abilities.

5. Veterans: We remain committed to the 2028 Outcomes as outlined in the

2018 Strategy for our Veterans and suggest consideration of an independent

department or unit covering veteran’s services. Within this we should look to

encourage greater openness around mental health, while also ensuring that the

Armed Forces and veterans are more integrated in civilian life.

SECTION I: RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

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The UK Government’s approach to Armed Forces recruitment leaves much to be

desired. The 2014 promise of 12,500 full-time personnel based in Scotland still comes

nowhere close to being delivered but, instead of addressing the crisis of recruitment

that has dogged the Ministry of Defence, the UK Government seems to have

embraced it: the Defence Secretary announced in the 2021 Integrated Review that

thousands of service personnel would be cut and the Armed Forces shrunk to its

smallest size since the early eighteenth century.1 In addition to raising the age of

recruitment to 18, we believe there are three structural changes which the UK

Government must make to its approach to recruitment and retention.

1. Raising the age of recruitment

Children can currently apply to join the Armed Forces when just over 15-and-a-half

years old. That they can then be recruited into the Armed Forces at 16 years old makes

the UK an outlier among European and NATO allies and among the world’s major

military powers. The UK Government should raise the age of recruitment to 18.

2. An improved recruitment offer

Prospective recruits to the Armed Forces must be made an employment offering that

reflects their unique working environment and the conditions that comes with it. This

offer should go beyond simply meeting their basic needs in terms of salary and pension

– it should make the Armed Forces an employer of choice for those seeking a

rewarding and stimulating career. Current UK Armed Forces’ pay scales offer recruits

significantly lower starting salaries than their peers in other public sector organisations,

with entry-level recruits in the UK Armed Forces earning between £4,000 and £6,000

less per annum than their counterparts in the Police or Fire Services.2 Despite

widespread unhappiness by serving personnel regarding their pay and conditions, the

Defence Secretary announced in 2021 that pay rises for the majority of Armed Forces

1 HM Government, National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015: A Secure and Prosperous United Kingdom’, November 2015; HM Government, ‘Scotland Analysis: Defence’, October 2013; UK Government, ‘Location of UK regular service and civilian personnel annual statistics: 2020’, 9th July 2020; HM Government, ‘Global Britain in a Competitive Age: the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy’, March 2021 2 British Army, ‘Pay and Benefits’. Accessed: https://apply.army.mod.uk/what-we-offer/army-life/benefits; Fire Brigades Union, ‘Pay Settlement 2020’. Accessed: https://www.fbu.org.uk/pay-rates/pay-settlement-2020; Police Scotland, ‘Pay and Grading Structure’. Accessed: https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/finance/pay-and-grading-structure/

SECTION I: RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

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personnel will be ‘paused’ for 2021/22.3 For as long as the UK Government ignores

the disparity between UK military salaries and those of our European allies,

recruitment and retention – as well morale – will be adversely affected.

As part of efforts to ensure that a good recruitment offer is made to prospective and

current members of the Armed Forces, the UK Government should undertake an

annual review which evaluates the Armed Forces as an employer. This review should

involve comparisons of pay and conditions with other European militaries and with

other comparable public sector roles in the United Kingdom and be reflective of the

burden placed on personnel.

3. A more flexible and open working environment

Too often serving personnel – particularly early on in their careers – feel that they are

not keeping pace with civilian peers both in terms of their income and in terms of the

skills that they are developing.4 And too often they leave because they are made to

feel like the Armed Forces is not a place for them.5 If the Armed Forces is to be

attractive employer for all citizens, both of these must be urgently rectified. Greater

effort should be made to promote initiatives – such as career breaks – which would

help attract and keep potential recruits who might otherwise feel that they had to

choose between a military career and having prospects in civilian life.

While the Armed Forces is a unique institution, it should one which fully represents

the country it serves, and which offers the chance for any citizen to rise to the top.

However, an ongoing Defence Select Committee inquiry has seen around 4000

women – around 40% of whom are currently serving – submit written evidence

testifying to a culture of misogyny and sexist bullying.6 The Armed Forces’

independent ombudsman also reported in 2019 that racist attacks in the Armed Forces

were happening with ‘increasing and depressing frequency’ with serving personnel

describing anti-racism efforts as ‘lip service and tick-box exercise with little or no

consolidated effort to root out the underlying issues causing some of the most blatant

3 Defence Secretary, Letter to the AFPRB Chair Pay Round 2021 to 2022, 3rd March 2021 4 Will Chalk, ‘Armed Forces: “I left because the job is boring and the pay is terrible”’, BBC News, 3rd January 2020 5 Katie Mark, ‘It wasn’t just Army banter – it was racism’, BBC News, 11th June 2020 6 Larissa Brown, ‘Military has its MeToo moment’, The Times, 4th March 2021

SECTION I: RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

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offenders’.7 The Ministry of Defence must go further and faster with efforts to tackle

identify-based discrimination and harassment in the Armed Forces.

4. Alternative entry routes

The recruitment pool for military personnel in the UK currently restricted by a linear

and hierarchical entry structure, with those possessing essential skills having few

means to enter the Forces with an attractive offer due to the obligation to begin at entry

level. We welcome Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Nick Carter’s call for the Armed

Forces to move towards a state where ‘we no longer distinguish between regulars and

reservists particularly … that we have a spectrum of commitment from full to part-time

service.’8 Initiatives such as greater collaboration with the private sector – such as

employers releasing scientists, linguists or technology experts for three or six months

– should be welcomed and implemented. With skill shortages in over 100 critical

trades, the Ministry of Defence should introduce such programmes as a matter of

urgency.9

7 Jonathan Beale, ‘Racism 'prevalent' in the armed forces, ombudsman warns’, BBC News, 19th December 2019; Ben Quinn, ‘'People like you' still uttered: BAME armed forces personnel on racism in services’, The Guardian, 7th January 2020 8 Helen Warrell, ‘Forces chief rallying cry to UK’s part-time tech warriors’, Financial Times, 21st June 2021 9 Public Accounts Committee, ‘Skill shortages in the Armed Forces’, July 2018

SECTION II: WORKING CONDITIONS AND PENSIONS

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While the initial offer made must be attractive to ensure retention of personnel, so too

must conditions after joining. Below, we have made four recommendations for

improved working conditions which would greatly improve life for members of the

Armed Forces by providing them with the expectation of options for flexible career

paths, a family life that is as close to normal as can reasonably be expected, and clear

guidance on pay, conditions and pensions.

1. Written employment contracts

Armed Forces personnel are not currently afforded the same clarity on their

employment status and rights as other public sector employees. The complex and

varied work that members of the Armed Forces do should not preclude them from

developing basic expectations of their employer - a clear contract of employment

setting out their duties, responsibilities and rights would go a long way towards

establishing this.

2. Expansion of childcare subsidies

The UK Government currently offers service families the option of tax-free childcare,

up to the value of £2,000 per child per year.10 This is a welcome first step but, given

the average Scottish family spends almost £6,000 per year on childcare, it does not

go far enough.11 For Armed Forces families, this cap should be increased to £6,000

per year.

3. Spousal employment network

In Canada, a spousal employment network connects military families with employers

that strive to provide equal employment opportunities to military spouses and partners.

While third-sector organisations like Recruit for Spouses offer something close to this

service in the UK, it cannot be left up to civil society to fill the gaps left by poor UK

Government policymaking. The Ministry of Defence should support the creation of an

in-house spousal employment network.

10 HM Government, ‘Childcare for Service Children’, 7th April 2021 11 Coram, ‘Scottish families face rising tide of childcare costs as prices rise again’, 28th February 2019

SECTION II: WORKING CONDITIONS AND PENSIONS

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4. Armed Forces Representative Body

An Armed Forces Representative Body would allow service personnel the right to

engage in collective bargaining and would be able to advocate for its members on

matters such as housing, pay and benefits, medical services, welfare provision, career

development, resettlement, and equipment. It would also be able to provide

confidential advice and support independent of the chain of command, especially on

legal and disciplinary concerns. In 1995, the Government-commissioned Bett Report

on Armed Forces career structures and conditions of service found that:

‘We have not been able to ignore a growing strength of feeling, apparent on our

visits and in the responses to our survey, that the time may be approaching

when some form of representation outside the chain of command may be

required … In a survey carried out as part of the Review, 66% of Servicemen

had agreed to some extent with a statement that the Services would benefit from

an organisation providing representation outside the chain of command’.12

25 years later, and despite the precedent set by our NATO allies in Germany, Norway,

the USA, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Ireland, the UK Government refuses

to allow for the statutory creation of an Armed Forces Representative Body. This short-

sighted policy must be reversed – the UK Government must allow and facilitate the

creation of an Armed Forces Representative Body, and a legal framework which

assures contractual rights in law.

5. Pensions

In the UK there is an occupational pension scheme for members of the Armed Forces

- the Armed Forces Pension Scheme - and separate schemes to make payments to

current and former service personnel and their families in respect of ill health, injury or

death caused by service - the War Pensions Scheme and the Armed Forces

Compensation Scheme. The UK Government should commit to an audit of these

schemes to evaluate the level of satisfaction with them and to establish whether

reforms are needed.

12 Independent Review of the Armed Forces’ Manpower, Career and Remuneration Structures: Managing People in Tomorrow’s Armed Forces, Chairman: Michael Bett CBE (HMSO, 1995)

SECTION III: HOUSING AND FACILITIES

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Everyone should have access to good-quality housing, something which is

fundamental to peoples’ wellbeing and welfare. Service personnel are no exception.

The UK Government must implement a military housing policy that refuses to reward

the failures of the past and gives serving personnel the accommodation they need and

deserve. Below, we set out three steps towards such a policy.

1. Greater community integration

Forces personnel are socially and physically isolated from civilian life, with pressures

on family or personal life repeatedly cited as the biggest driver for people leaving the

Armed Forces.13 A transition towards a model where serving personnel can live in their

own homes as much as possible when not on exercise (while retaining the option for

personnel to live in Single Living Accommodation if they so choose) would not only

improve housing satisfaction and morale but would save money maintaining outdated,

run-down facilities.

With independence, an important priority of the government will be to improve and

expand the stock of quality housing available to citizens of all incomes and needs. In

undertaking this, we have the opportunity to incorporate the needs of personnel and

their families into a strategy for building new social and privately-owned housing as

part of an independent Scottish state’s commitment to ensuring that all citizens enjoy

the right to a good home As an example, Denmark has shown that personnel can live

alongside civilian communities whenever not serving on deployment abroad, with an

assurance that they will never be expected to commute longer than two-and-a-half

hours to their places of work in the vast majority of cases.. Given the substantial assets

of the defence estate across a wide geographical area in Scotland, the implementation

of such a policy should be approached on a transitional basis.

2. End the culture of outsourcing

The current management of the defence estate with respect to housing has provided

poor value for money for taxpayers, offering no protection against the private sector

from making excessive gains at the expense of public assets. Private companies like

CarillionAmey have repeatedly been rewarded for their failure to deliver with more

government contracts.14 The UK Government should call time on its monomaniacal

13 Ministry of Defence, UK Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey 2021, May 2021 14 Public Accounts Committee Report, ‘Service Family Accommodation’, July 2016

SECTION III: HOUSING AND FACILITIES

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obsession with outsourcing to companies who have repeatedly failed to deliver and

introduce a presumption in favour of contracts being delivered by the public sector.

3. Greater investment in housing stock

Following ‘decades of under investment’, the defence estate faces a raft of issues with

its housing stock, with a third of personnel living in ‘poorer grade’ housing and

thousands of personnel living in accommodation that is deemed to be so poor that

they are not even charged rent.15 It is beggars belief that the Ministry of Defence

believes it has £200m to spend on a new trade ship while it continues to under-invest

in housing stock for serving personnel. The UK Government must make the

improvement of the military housing an urgent spending priority.

15 National Audit Office, ‘Improving Single Living Accommodation’, 3rd February 2021

SECTION IV: EDUCATION AND HEALTH

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We are committed to ensuring that all serving armed forces personnel and veterans

can access the best possible care and support, including safe, effective, and patient-

centred healthcare. This commitment to welfare will run alongside a commitment to

career development and to meeting the unique health and education needs of

personnel.

1. Priority treatment for veterans

We support the policy on priority treatment for veteran that the Scottish Government

has communicated to all NHS Boards and which states that all veterans should receive

priority treatment for health problems that are a result of their service. Those with

serious wounds and injuries should be assured that they will receive a commitment to

life-long specialist medical care that is specifically devoted to treating their conditions.

This would be a departure from the UK’s veterans’ services, which are primarily led by

charities and foundations.

2. Greater integration with the NHS

There are significant opportunities for integration with the NHS for the provision of

health services and the introduction of flexible solutions using existing civilian

infrastructure. While the larger military locations would likely justify the retention of a

military GP/Practise Nurse and Pharmacy operations, smaller locations could be

supported by local GP practices.

3. Mental health support

It is crucial to support the mental wellbeing of our armed forces. The UK Government

has already established a new 24/7 Mental Health Helpline for serving personnel and

their families. A framework for combined working between Combat Stress who fulfil

this programme, the MoD and the NHS regarding an out-of-hours mental health

helpline has been developed and we would continue to support this as a permanent

programme.

3. Greater integration with Job Centres

The Scottish Government has already taken substantial steps to ensure that recently

discharged personnel are able to access bespoke career services through an Armed

SECTION IV: EDUCATION AND HEALTH

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Forces Champion at every local Jobcentre Plus. Through formalising links between

higher education institutions, prospective employers, and a network of Armed Forces

Champions, we can take a substantive step towards ensuring that the right support is

readily at hand to make the most of the skills and talents of our greatly valued Armed

Forces community. Accessing such a service, and exploring the opportunities

available through this service, should be readily available online with bespoke services

being available in Jobcentres where all career and educational support services can

be consolidated.

4. Greater support for post-military employment

it is important that those who are leaving the Armed Forces feel confident that there

are educational and career opportunities available to them as soon as they leave. It is

too often the case that those that join the Armed Forces, particularly those from poorer

backgrounds, join the forces without substantive civilian qualifications and then are left

without the guidance to use their experiences or develop new ones in civilian life. The

Ministry of Defence should offer career development guidance to military personnel

during their service to provide them with skills and knowledge they need to pursue a

variety of career options within and outwith the Armed Forces. Many existing issues

for veterans can be improved for future recruits by making preparation for life after

service a component of personnel career development; the foundations of this would

be advice on housing, using training opportunities to train for a post-service career

and developing life skills such as budgeting and debt management.

SECTION V: VETERANS

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There are around 240,000 veterans in Scotland, the majority of whom leave service

and integrate well into civilian life.16 However, access to healthcare, housing and

employment are three principal areas where veterans may require additional support,

particularly early service leavers who often received little or no support when leaving

from training or after only a few years in uniform and require assistance with re-

integration into wider society.

1. Citizenship after three years’ service

Service by people who are not UK citizens should be recognised with the automatic

right to citizenship after three years of full time service: this would include the right to

live and work in the UK for immediate dependents, and all application fees should be

waived. Generous visa policies should also apply to interpreters who have worked in

service of Armed Forces deployments overseas.

2. An independent veterans’ agency

In considering the specific interests and concerns of the veterans’ community, an

independent agency across Government may be the best way of developing and

promoting policies that address this specific community’s distinct needs within the

Government. In the United States and New Zealand, there are entirely separate

Government Departments for veterans’ services. In South Korea, a veteran’s council

is responsible for the implementation of veterans’ services and strategies. This would

ensure a distinct Government focus and provide a central point of contact for veterans.

3. Full inclusion of war widows and widowers

It is also crucial that war widows and widowers are fully incorporated into the veteran’s

community, and that they can be offered services that reflect their specific needs.

Under the current UK Government system, the War Disablement Pension is counted

as income by the Department for Work and Pensions and can therefore lead to

veterans – and their widows/widowers – being materially disadvantaged when

claiming Employment Support Allowance. The UK Government should follow the

16 Scottish Veterans Commissioner, Positive Futures: Getting Transition Right in Scotland, November 2019, p. 11

SECTION V: VETERANS

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Scottish Government in altering the rules to ensure that the War Disablement Pension

and the War Widow’s Pension is exempt from income assessments and that veterans

and their dependents receive its full value.

4. Future work

The reports and recommendations from the Scottish Veterans Commissioner would

form a good basis for future work.17 The current Scottish Government’s strategy, which

we remain committed to, sets out the following objectives:

• helping to fund advice and support for veterans through the Scottish Veterans

Fund.

• setting out our future vision for supporting veterans in our veterans strategy.

• working with the NHS to improve armed forces' and veterans’ healthcare.

• publishing guidance, such as the armed forces and ex-service personnel

housing guide.

• funding Veterans Scotland to support programmes for the veteran

community.18

We are committed to retaining the 2028 Outcomes as outlined in the UK’s Veteran’s

Strategy which commits to ensuring veterans are able to integrate to their

communities, have a secure place to live, enjoy a state of positive physical and mental

health, are able to enter appropriate employment and are financially self-supporting.19

17 See for example: Scottish Veterans Commissioner, Positive Futures: Getting Transition Right in Scotland, December 2020; Scottish Veterans Commissioner, Veterans’ Health & Wellbeing A Distinctive Scottish Approach, April 2018; The Scottish Government, The Veterans Community: Employability, Skills and Learning, November 2016 18 HM Government, The Strategy for our Veterans, November 2018; The Scottish Government, The Strategy for Veterans: Taking the Strategy Forward in Scotland, January 2020 19 HM Government, The Strategy for Our Veterans, November 2018